Transactional Religion

It’s been true throughout history that religion is practiced by humans in a manner to provide something to the practitioner.  You sacrificed something to the ancient Gods so they would grant you the things you hoped for.  Even Christians today usually practice some form of this transactional thinking. 

For example, we pray and ask God to bless what we are doing so it will prosper.  We pray to receive healing for ourselves or others.  We put money in the collection plate thinking God will approve of us for that.  We use the transactional method to encompass our thinking and often get upset or angry when things don’t go the way we prayed for.  We say how come God doesn’t care.  I’ve heard that called “faith in our faith, rather than faith in God.”  It’s an apt description.

Recently I was with a group of people who were asking those hard questions about faith, and one person posed the question “how do you feel about God allowing such tragedy to happen in life?  Why would He let a child be viciously killed for instance, or a plane to crash, or a terrorist to kill innocents, and why would he allow your unselfish prayers not to be answered?”

All this hits the heart of what the non-believer says when he exclaims, “What good is believing in God.  What does it do and what good do you get from it.”  Transactional thinking at its best.  Unfortunately, it ignores what our faith is actually about.  My son once wisely mentioned that allowing bad things to happen to him was the only way he learned the value of good things and the danger of the bad.  It also can teach us much about how to treat other people and to help others.

 

I believe faith is about having a relationship with God…one that was broken long ago.  It is about knowing that we are not in charge, and knowing that this life (as a test) is only a miniscule fraction of what our existence is all about.  Suffering often is the one thing that makes us turn to God and gives us the realization that we are not in charge.  Eternity awaits us, and only through trust in God, and a love relationship that waits patiently on Him, is the way found to an eternity of incalculable joy.